Hyderabad: At least 11 workers were killed and a few others were injuredwhen a warehouse of a firecracker factory caught fire in Warangal districtof Telangana Wednesday morning.

Police said 10 workers died on the spot at Kotilingala village whileanother person died in hospital. Fire and emergency services rushed to thescene.

Police officials said the toll could increase as there were 20 peopleworking in the warehouse when the accident took place. Warangal policecommissioner Vishwanathar Ravinder and others rushed to the scene to oversee the rescue operation.

The blast was so powerful that the entire building of the warehouse camecrashing down. Those killed were burnt beyond recognition. Officials saidsome bodies could be in the debris of the building. The warehouse belongedto Bhadrakali Fireworks Company. Some of the workers managed to flee fromthe place while others remained stuck inside.

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao expressed deep shock over the incidentand announced all possible help to the victims and their families. He saidthat while the family of every deceased will get an ex gratia of Rs 500,000(Dh26,731), the government will bear the entire cost of the treatment ofthe injured. He ordered the officials to investigate and establish thecause of the blast.